First look: 2014 Bowman Chrome Mini baseball sets

Bowman Chrome cards are getting shrunken once again and packed into factory set form as Topps announced Wednesday that 2014 Bowman Chrome Mini sets will arrive in December.

Set to arrive the week of Dec. 24, each factory set will include 330 cards and each eight-set case will guarantee a 1/1 Superfractor card or printing plate. Also new this year will be image variations for some players, while every factory set will also include 30 Refractor parallels.

Topps also is creating a Black Shimmer Refractor that will only be found if the set is a Hot Box that includes the entire set with that style.

The Chrome rainbow for this one will include standard Refractors along with Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow (/25), Orange (/10), Red (/5), Supers and plates.

The 330-card set will include a mix of rookies and prospects, a crop that includes Kris Bryant, Masahiro Tanaka, Jose Abreu, Oscar Taveras, George Springer and more.

A suggested retail price was not announced but it will carry a premium price tag ($200-plus) based on factory cost.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball and Beckett Sports Card Monthly magazines. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.